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Welcome to the Studio 180 Design Modern Opulence Blog Hop! I’m Diana Mann, a Studio 180 Design Certified Instructor. I am so thrilled to be a part of this week of showing off some stunning designs made with the newest line of fabric in conjunction with Island Batik. These beautiful fabrics in burnt oranges, rich golds, umbers and caramels, and deep navy evoke a feeling of luxury, and as the name implies, opulence. I couldn’t wait to start cutting into my fabrics!

The theme of this week is table runners and table toppers. I knew immediately that I wanted to make the pattern Switchback. I had made this pattern when it first came out as a runner for my bed. The pattern comes in three sizes, and since my table is slightly smaller, the 12 1/2″ x 45″ size was perfect for my needs. I made the medium size, 17 1/2″ x 63″, for my bed. I’ll show you a comparison between the two at the end of the post. I was given these lovely fabrics to work with. Don’t  you just love these geometric prints? Combined with the colors, it reminds me of art deco.

I worked with the navy print as my dark color, the golden umber as my accent 1, and the lighter orange as my accent 2. I had a beautiful light golden yellow as my background.

One of my favorite things about this pattern is that it looks complicated, but uses just two tools! The Tucker Trimmer is used to make half square triangles and combination units, and the Wing Clipper is used to make flying geese. This pattern is perfect for someone who is just learning the tools and wants to practice some of these fundamental units. I got out my Quilter’s Magic Wand and went to work.

Half square triangles are a breeze with my Tucker Trimmer. This tool never leaves my cutting mat! I own a total of eight of them in three different sizes that are offered. That’s how much I use this tool! Of course, I like to have extras when I go to teach, in case anyone has forgotten their tool.

One of my absolute favorite things about Studio 180 Design patterns is how they organize each unit you make by assigning it a letter. You can keep everything in order as you work through a pattern. I always make sure to label my units after I make them.

Once I finished with my Tucker Trimmer I got to work on my flying geese using my Wing Clipper. If you’ve never made flying geese using the four at a time method, I highly recommend it. It goes so much more quickly! I chose to use the no nudge numbers to make my flying geese. This process adds 1/4″ to the starting squares to give you just a bit of wiggle room when trimming the final units down. Check out the Studio 180 Design blog to learn a little more about the process, including links to some fabulous Tips and Tricks videos from Deb. I use the no nudge method when I teach, especially for people who have never used the Wing Clipper before. It makes them successful from the very first trim down!

After all of my units were made, I put everything on my design wall according to the final layout diagram. This pattern has just one layout. You can change the size by making different size units using your tools. I love that about my Studio 180 toolbox – I can make multiple sizes of units with a tool! I can make tiny units for something that would be a mini, large units that can make king size quilts, and everything in between. I sewed everything together and had my husband (who is my long armer) quilt it for me. We chose a gorgeous gold colored thread and a fun pantograph that mimicked some of the patterns in the fabric.

I really love the way the final project turned out. I think it looks fantastic on my table.

It also matches some of the décor in my living room. This midcentury modern chair has a beautiful navy that goes perfectly with my dark fabric and the binding. The gorgeous stained glass in the window also picks up the blue. It was made by my friend Judy. She’s so talented!

Here is a picture of the project laid out. I think it matches my floors pretty well, also!

As a comparison, take a look at the bed runner medium version that I made using completely different fabrics. You can see the size difference, but also how the two projects look totally different because of the fabric choices.

Here is a picture of the one I use as a bed runner on the table.  This pattern is so versatile, and as you can see, completely different depending on the fabrics used. I think both versions are great. But I have to admit, working with the Island Batik fabrics is a purely pleasurable experience.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my stop on the Modern Opulence Blog Hop, and gotten a few ideas of what you can do with this gorgeous fabric line. The rest of this week a few of my fellow Certified Instructors will be showing you their creations that they designed themselves! You won’t want to miss what they have in store for you. At the end of the week there will be more fantastic Studio 180 Design patterns made with Modern Opulence on their blog, including a brand new block of the month!

Tuesday January 17th: Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs
Wednesday January 18th: Phyllis Fay of Tucker University
Thursday January 19th: Raija Salomaa of Quilters Treasure Chest
Friday January 20th: Studio 180 Design wrap up

If you’re interested in classes, I teach both online over Zoom and in person and have some information on my classes tab. Teaching people to use and love their Studio 180 Design tools has become my passion! Enjoy this week learning more about Modern Opulence and the Studio 180 Design tools.

It has been a while since I’ve blogged, but one of my new year’s resolutions is to blog at least once a month. The last several months have been busy ones as I started teaching on my own, got more involved with my job at Studio 180 Design, and did some travelling.

In November I travelled to Houston for the International Quilt Festival. It was my first time there, and I had so much fun! I was working the Studio 180 Design booth with Deb and Sarah. Sometimes it still shocks me that quilters don’t know who we are, but Deb is so dynamic when she is demoing, that even the most novice of quilters can’t help but get enthusiastic about our tools. As you can see here, our booth was always pretty packed.

I got the chance to walk around in the mornings with Deb and Sarah. Sarah and I are both knitters as well, so in addition to finding patterns and fabric that we loved, we both bought yarn! It was so fun to have that experience to share with someone again. It has been since before the pandemic that I went yarn shopping with a friend.

The quilts on display were amazing and it was so much fun meeting people who love our tools, as well as demoing to people who hadn’t heard of them before. I was especially drawn to some of the modern quilts on display. I ended up taking several pictures and sending them to my husband who is my longarmer. He was impressed with the depth of talent, as was I. We are both excited that QuiltCon will be in Raleigh in 2024.

When I returned from Festival, I had an interview with BERNINA World of Sewing in Raleigh and I’m excited to announce that I am returning to in person teaching! I will be bringing Tucker Tool Club to BERNINA. I have been so pleased with their support of my classes. They have a gorgeous classroom and a full complement of Studio 180 tools. Not to mention an amazing fabric selection! Their clean, bright store and wonderful staff make shopping there a real treat. This is the quilt that is currently on display at the shop. These Tula Pink fabrics make me so happy!

If you are interested in learning more about these classes, you can check them out here on their website.

My own classes have been doing so well. I am currently in the middle of two series – Tucker Tool Club and the Journeys Block of the Month. I have also taught two sessions of Tuckerizing Alaska, the Laundry Basket Quilts pattern. That one always sells out in a matter of hours. I added another session in February and it sold out in less than a day.

Upcoming this month I have two sessions on the newest Studio 180 Design Technique Sheet called Hollow Cube 60. This cool 3D unit is made using the Star 60 tool. There are still some spaces available and you can read about them under the classes tab here on the website.

Each year we have a Certified Instructor Reunion. It’s so much fun to catch up with others who I haven’t seen in a while and meet new people who I’ve only interacted with online. One of the people I have really hit it off with is Tina Dillard of Quilting Affection Designs. She and I met in 2021 at Reunion and talked some then. In 2022, we ended up spending quite a bit of time together. We have decided to collaborate on a few things. I will have more information about our biggest joint project coming soon, but in the meantime, she and I are hosting a retreat based on her book Poppin’ With Wings. You can read more about it here.

In a couple of weeks I will be taking part in another Studio 180 Design Blog Hop for our newest fabric line, Modern Opulence. Make sure you follow my Facebook page for more information on it and who else will be involved.

This has been a longer post than I intended, but I had so much to share! I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. Happy New Year!

When I began teaching online during the pandemic I never thought I’d still be going strong two and a half years later. Earlier this year I ventured into teaching on my own instead of through a quilt shop and the response from students has been amazing! As things grow and evolve we (my great IT support, also known as my husband) make changes to ensure that students get the best experience, from registration all the way through class. That can mean new cameras, new microphones, better lighting, or in the most immediate change, the registration process. We have made it easier for you to register for any class that you want to take! I have a short video here taking you through the process. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at murgabooquilter@gmail.com.

Welcome to August! It’s been so hot here in central North Carolina. It seems every day is hot and humid, with thunderstorms in the afternoon that don’t do much to cool everything off. I was lucky enough to escape for a week to the Outer Banks with my family for some much needed down time. It was still hot and humid, but being on the sound side we had nice breezes that made everything a bit more bearable.

July also saw the start of a new year of Tucker Tool Club. We learned about the versatile Tucker Trimmer and all the amazing things you can do with it. I have three tools that never leave my cutting mat: my favorite rotary cutter, a 6 ½” x 12 ½” Creative Grids ruler, and my Tucker Trimmer. I actually own five of them just in the smallest size! We had so much fun in class and my students had a great time making their blocks for Month 1. You still have time to join if you are interested. You can read all about it and sign up here on my class page.

I also announced the class Tuckerizing Alaska. This two session series shows you how to use the Wedge Star tool to make this fun quilt by Laundry Basket Quilts. It actually filled up so quickly that I’ve decided to add more dates to the calendar. The session starting August 18^th is full, but I have another session that will start October 1^st with the second class on October 15^th. If you are interested in signing up, I recommend you do so as soon as possible. The first session filled up in less than two days! The gorgeous quilt pictured below was completed by my amazing student Dottie Fiddleman. Didn’t she do a beautiful job?

Have you seen Journeys, the Studio 180 Block of the Month done up in their brand new line from Island Batik? They have reworked the pattern in the soothing tones of Tranquility. I am going to be teaching this as a six month series starting in September. You will have the option of a weekday or weekend class time. I’ve got my kit on order from Quilter’s Obsession. You can order the full kit with or without the pattern and shipping is free! Debbie and her team do a wonderful job with customer service and I cannot recommend them enough. Or you have the option of digging into your stash and using your own fabrics. The pattern is available to purchase on its own at http://studio180design.net

You can register for classes here on my classes page.

One other thing I have been taking part in is the Studio 180 Design Monthly Block Challenge. Each month a few of the CIs take a BlockBuster and make it their own. Every Thursday of the month we show you how we put our block together. We start with a fabric pull, then give you a couple of sneak peeks of the block, and on the final Thursday we reveal what we came up with. We are working our way through the BlockBusters in order, and nothing says we have to stick to the original design. Here is what I came up with for the first one. You can follow along each Thursday on my Facebook page and my Instagram, where I will link to all of the other CIs who are participating. You’re sure to find something that stokes your creativity!

As you can see, I have a busy month coming up. Feel free to message me with any questions about upcoming classes. Until next time, may all your points be perfect.

Diana

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog for the Tranquility Blog Hop! This gorgeous new line of fabric by Studio 180 Design for Island batik is filled with soothing fabrics in calming colors and prints inspired by nature.

This week we’ve been seeing a theme with the blog hop – the old and the new! On Monday we saw an old favorite redone in Tranquility on the Studio 180 Blog. On Tuesday and Wednesday my friends and fellow Studio 180 Design Certified Instructors Tina of Quilting Affection Designs and Raija of Quilters’ Treasure Chest showed us some gorgeous quilts they designed. Make sure to stop by their blogs to see what they created.  Tomorrow we will see another old favorite redone on the Studio 180 blog.

When I received my fat quarter bundle I decided to do a little old and new as well.

One of the best resources available to us as quilters is the free downloads section on the Studio 180 website. They have a whole section dedicated to a block library called BlockBusters. I love these blocks for so many reasons! I use them frequently when I teach to show students what they can do with their tools. There are multiple sizes and color ideas and they use a tool or a technique sheet, and sometimes both. They are a great way to practice using your tools. There are even some quilt settings available.

Here is where you can find the BlockBusters on the Studio 180 website. BlockBusters

The latest BlockBuster is #71 Illusion. I knew the second I saw it it would be the perfect block for Tranquility.

The first thing I do when working with these blocks is play with the Black Line Master. That is the black and white outline of the different units in the block. I played with a few colorations and I decided on this color combination.

I chose these fabrics to use for this block.

I love making the BlockBusters into wall hangings or table toppers by adding a simple border. They make great gifts! I chose to go with the 18″ block size and got to work making my units.

I love the perfect center points I get when making hourglass units and shaded four patch units! The Tucker Trimmer makes it so easy.

Once I had the final block together I decided to add two borders that finished out at 2″, giving me a 22″ finished block. By placing the darker teal and sienna fabrics towards the center of the block, the secondary pattern really stands out. I love the way the two colors play together and how the lovely patterns in the fabric speak of nature.

Then I started to think about older blocks. I knew I wanted to work with a block that would finish at 18″. I also knew I wanted to work with something that would allow the colors that I used for my second pull to play the main part. I wanted the background fabric to truly be a supporting player.

I went with BlockBuster #26 Cactus Blossom that was created in 2018.

The different ways to make this block using  Corner Beam, Wing Clipper, and Corner Pop were so intriguing to me. I went with the third layout. I felt it let the background fabric truly recede into the background allowing the more muted colors I picked to stand out.

I got to work making my units. One of my favorite features of my tools is they can make multiple size units! Deb always says a gadget can do one thing and a TOOL can do multiple things. That’s why we create tools! In this block I made 3″ and 6″ Corner Beam units.

Then I popped the corner of the larger units using the Corner Pop tool.

I then started on my flying geese units.

Do you know how to keep the points on your flying geese when sewing them into a block? Make sure your needle hits right where the two threads come together at the point and sew with the unit on top. I get perfect points every time!

Once the block was together I was very pleased with how it turned out. I added a 2″ finished border that finished the block at 22″.

For quilting my husband (who is my fabulous long armer!) and I chose to go with a very round pantograph that allowed the piecing to be the focus. We went with a light gray thread and placed both pieces on the machine at the same time.

These will make perfect size wall hangings or table toppers. They would also look great on the back of a chair as an accent piece in a guest room. I love how the colors are so calming and peaceful. Tranquility was definitely the right name for this beautiful line of fabric!

While I chose to stick within a narrow tone range for my two projects, some of the other projects that have been made with this fabric work with a wider array of colors. Make sure you stop by the following blogs to see what else has been done.

Studio 180 Design

Quilting Affection Designs

Quilters’ Treasure Chest

And don’t forget to return to the Studio 180 Design blog tomorrow where you can enter to win a free fat quarter bundle of Tranquility! Between all of the gorgeous projects we showed this week and the beautiful colors and patterns, you’re sure to find inspiration for your next project. Tranquility is available now in quilt shops.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and seeing what old and new things I was able to create with Tranquility. I teach a series of classes on the tools called Tucker Tool Club and we go over how to make BlockBusters in class. All of my classes are taught online over Zoom, so you don’t have to be local to me to learn! Best of all you get to learn from the comfort of your own sewing studio. You can see my current offerings under the classes tab.

Feel free to come back to my website for more tips and tricks as well as the latest and greatest from Studio 180.

Diana

Hi all! Long time, no post. So much has been happening in the Murgaboo Quilts world. Since January I’ve been teaching Fair Isle Block of the Month through Wish Upon a Quilt. We are having a great time assembling our blocks each month and learning all kinds of new techniques.

In April of this year I got a call from the people at Studio 180 Design and I was offered a job! What a dream come true for me. I’m working with Deb Tucker and Sarah Furrer and the rest of the Studio 180 team to bring you tools, patterns, technique sheets, and classes that are new and fun. I’ve been with them now for two months and it has been an absolute blast. I can tell you the whole group at Studio 180 love what they do and work hard!

 

Since I was offered this new job I decided to take stock of what classes I wanted to teach and when. I have been with Wish Upon a Quilt now for three years. Most of the classes I teach for them are virtual over Zoom.  I need maximum flexibility schedule wise for my commitments to Studio 180. Because of that, I have ended my regular teaching relationship with the shop. I will be teaching all of my monthly classes over Zoom, but you can now register right here on my website! This gives me some flexibility on class dates and times, as well as the opportunity to point you to many different places to buy tools, patterns, and fabric. I still have a great working relationship with Wish Upon a Quilt and will be with them in the future on special events and classes. Wish will always be my local quilt shop and I am so grateful to Frank  and Laurie for the last three years. Because of them I have been able to perfect my online teaching.

 

My first round of classes will be another session of Tucker Tool Club. This was the first group of classes I taught online. Over the course of the year I will take you through twelve of the tools in the Studio 180 line, starting with the Tucker Trimmer and all of the fundamental tools, and ending with three of the Rapid Fire tools. How do these classes work? You register for a spot in the club for $10, which guarantees you a seat in class. It also gets you exclusive membership to a private Facebook group where you can post pictures, ask questions, and interact with me and other students. There will also be special members only videos for tougher techniques, and tips and tricks for organizing your Studio 180 library of tools, patterns, and technique sheets. Each month we will learn a new tool as well as two quilt blocks. Each class session is $30 and you pick which classes you want to take. At the end of the year you will have a sampler quilt that shows off all of your new found skills. Here’s an example of a sampler quilt I made using my tools. I am in the process of finishing the exact blocks you will learn over the year and assembling them into a new sampler quilt. As soon as it’s finished I will be posting pictures here and on my Facebook page.

You can register for the club and for the first classes by clicking on the classes tab at the top of this page. If you have any questions about how the club works, or how classes will work you can email me at murgabooquilter@gmail.com.

 

I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure. I will be adding more classes in the coming weeks to the calendar. I hope to have new classes available starting in September of 2022. I hope you’ll join me for a class or two! Happy quilting.

 

 

This last week I have been teaching a pattern called Smooth Sailing by a fellow Certified Instructor, Pam Goggans. One of the things that makes this such a lovely quilt is all of the points that come together between pieces. The great thing about Studio 180 Design tools is you get a perfect 1/4″ on your units so you don’t lose your points. But what do you do when you have two points that are coming together like you have on this quilt? Take a look at my finished wall hanging, a different size of the quilt, adapted by the fabulous CIs over at Running With Scissors.

You can see that there are a lot of points that come together in this quilt. If you lose the points the effect is lost. Here’s a video that talks about precision pinning and pressing. If you have any questions feel free to send me an email under my contact info. Enjoy!

 

Long time no post! I’ve been so busy teaching and making quilts that the poor blog has fallen behind. I’ve been loving patterns by Sarah Furrer lately. She’s an in house CI at Studio 180. Her design aesthetic is so pleasing and modern. This is called Filigree and it uses the Corner Beam tool and the Large Square Squared tool. I used some old Jason Yenter fabrics I had in my stash and I also used a gorgeous Kona Solid called Chalkboard.

So what has been going on in my little corner of the quilting world? I’ve been doing a lot of virtual teaching through Wish Upon a  Quilt.  Tucker Tool Club is still my most sought after set of classes. We will be starting a new session in June. I’m very excited to start again because I get to introduce a whole new group of people to the Studio 180 system. And I get to use Laurie’s gorgeous panels. Laurie is one of the shop owners and she designs fabrics. Because we work together on some of these projects, they are exclusive to Wish. It has opened up a lot of new possibilities for me and it’s very exciting.

I’ve also been teaching a series on the Lemoyne Star tool. It was my intro to Studio 180 and my favorite tool.

Life has been busy, but I love having such wonderful projects to work on. But I take time every day to do things for myself, such as yoga. I started doing it back in December when I was having some back issues and kept up with it when I started feeling better. Now I’m doing daily practice. Tomorrow my husband and I go to get our first dose of the COVID vaccine. We are both excited. It’s a promise that things can’t stay the way they are forever.

Spring is arriving and with it all the flowers and trees will start to come back. Spring is my favorite season. Seeing all the new growth after winter always makes me feel hopeful.

 

Have you ever begun a quilt so excited to watch it take shape, and half way through get frustrated because your points don’t match, your seam intersections are off, or your blocks aren’t all the same size? When I first began quilting I thought that those things would come with time and practice. And in some ways they did. I learned about that all important scant 1/4″ seam allowance. I learned the best practices for pressing. I learned about the grain of the fabric and bias. But still, sometimes my blocks weren’t the same size or if I was making a complicated block the points would be off. My biggest frustration came in the form of a Lemoyne star block. No matter how many times I tried to make it work, I couldn’t. Wish Upon a Quilt was having a series of classes on the Studio 180 Design Rapid Fire Lemoyne Star tool, taught by a former CI (Certified Instructor). I signed up and I was hooked from the very first stitch.

So what’s the big deal with the Studio 180 Design tools? Why are people so passionate about them? Most tools out there require you to cut precise sizes of the pieces of your units and then sew them together using that perfect scant 1/4″ seam. For things like half square triangles  you’ll often see a 7/8″ measurement included in your instructions. With Studio 180 Design tools you start out but cutting pieces that are slightly larger than they need to be and then once your units are sewn together, you use the tool to trim them down to a precise size. Because all of your units are then trimmed to the exact size you need, your blocks go together with more accuracy and less frustration. Besides that, these tools make quilting fun! I quilt because I enjoy it. It’s an escape from daily stress. And while sometimes it is my job, it’s also my hobby. Who wants to have their hobby be frustrating?

Once you start with a Tucker Tool (Deb Tucker is the founding genius behind Studio 180 Designs) you want to learn more of them. There are a total of 21 tools in the Studio 180 arsenal. Some of them are variations on the same tool, like the Square Squared, Corner Pop, Hunter’s Star, Tucker Trimmer, and the Wing Clipper.  Any quilt out there I see I try to “Tuckerize” it. I convert it to use my Tucker Tools.

If you’re interested in learning these amazing tools, Laurie of Laurie Kent Designs and I came up with a fantastic quilt to teach you 11 of the most basic Tucker Tools. Laurie is one of the owners at Wish Upon a Quilt and she is also a fabric designer. Using one of her panels and gorgeous coordinating fabrics that Laurie chose, I came up with this quilt.

Over the course of a year you will learn all the different tools that go into making the quilt, how to use them, and how to apply them to other patterns. We decided to call it the Tucker Tool Club and this is exclusive to Wish Upon a Quilt. All the classes are being taught over Zoom, so even if you aren’t local to us you can still participate! There are only a few spots left. The membership into the club gets you all the fabric to make the quilt top, access to the private Facebook page for members only where I will be posting extra video content, and 10% off Studio 180 Tools and Technique Sheets for the year. The classes are an additional fee, but if you already know how to use the tool for the month, you don’t have to take the class. Classes are available during the day, evening, and a weekend. If you’re interested, come take a look at the info on the club!

Tucker Tool Club at Wish Upon a Quilt